The present embodiments relate to a local coil arrangement for a magnetic resonance tomography system.
Magnetic resonance tomography devices for examining, for example, patients using magnetic resonance tomography are known from DE10314215B4.
In MR tomography, signals are recorded using local coils (e.g., loops). Excited nuclei of an examination subject (e.g., a patient) induce a voltage by way of radiation emitted by the excited nuclei in a local coil antenna receiving the radiation as a signal. The induced voltage is amplified by a low-noise preamplifier (LNA) and forwarded to receive electronics of a magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) system.
In order to examine patients fitted with cardiac pacemakers, some of whom are suffering from illnesses such as, for example, cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure or coronary diseases, use is made of, for example, imaging methods based on ionizing beams such as SPECT, X-ray fluoroscopy or CT.
MRT may also be employed for assessing cardiac performance and cardiac perfusion. MRT may be limited in terms of the speed of imaging. This may constitute a problem for the heart, for example, which is in motion due to heartbeat and respiration.
US 20090149933, US 20080262584 and US 20070238975 describe MR-compatible cardiac pacemakers that operate in the magnetic field of an MRT system and are designed in such a way that risks (e.g., due to the heating of pacemakers or electrodes) are excluded. Receive coils (e.g., arrays) that are placed onto the chest of the patient or positioned under the patient are used for imaging. Cardiac pacemakers have a negative effect on image quality because the cardiac pacemaker generate artifacts. Catheters from the company Topspin Medical as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,319 or from Surgi-Vision as disclosed in US 20020045816 are also known for conducting catheter examinations.